


for now

by orphan_account



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-16
Updated: 2012-05-16
Packaged: 2017-11-05 12:12:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/406283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nobody expected it to last - not even them.<br/>But it's been years, and here they are still.</p>
            </blockquote>





	for now

**Author's Note:**

> I just got a little sad at how many people have Tony and Pepper breaking up. I thought they deserved a chance, at least.

Their first kiss, on the rooftop, was like most things that had anything to do with Tony - fast, impulsive and incredibly badly thought out.

Tony, while incredibly experienced, had virtually no idea of how to maintain a relationship. Hell, even a _friendship_ was beyond him - he just couldn't figure out how people worked, beyond a quick fuck or a night's fun. And half of the time this made Pepper want to scream in frustration about how _clueless_ he was. The rest of the time it saddened her that he'd never found anyone who wanted anything more than that from him. Who just wanted him to be _him._

Regardless, there'd been a kind of acceptance - unspoken, but still present - that this whatever-they-had would never last for long. They enjoyed it while they could.

6 months later, however, and they were still together. Tony wasn't actively trying to get himself killed, and he was gradually learning how to make their relationship work. Slowly but surely they settled into a kind of lopsided balance built of give and take and _Tony:_ stupid and reckless, but so beautifully sweet. Pepper ran the company and looked after Tony, who got on with being _brilliant._ And it worked. Kind of.

Nobody had ever thought it would work out, not even them, but their little relationship kept going, and the Avengers happened. Tony nearly died, and (after she'd finished nearly having a heart attack) they simply fell into each others' arms in pure relief that the other was safe. Tony spent a few days locked in his lab, coming out tired and dirty, but happier than he'd been in weeks, and promising to _never_ be that stupid and altruistic ever again. Next time someone else could take the nuke.

 

Tony is still arrogant, infuriating and a few bolts short of a robot. But he's brilliant and sweet and he tries so hard to make this thing they have work. He has a family that accepts and cares for him for the first time ever. She still worries every time he goes out with the Avengers and confronts evil (gets _shot at_ by evil). She loves him, he loves her, and they're happy.

 

She doesn't reflect on this. She simply  _knows_ it as she lies in bed, beside the warm, solid and comforting shape of Tony. The ARC reactor gives off a cool blue light as she huddles into him, closer.

They don't expect this to last, as always. They never have. But what they _do_ do is hope, wish and pray that it _will_. And so they know every day that they spend happy and together as the blessing it truly is. 

There are many worse ways to live.


End file.
